Diego Sobral
Diego Sobral (1943-2021) was President of Brazil from 2013 to 2015, succeeding Eduardo Doreira and preceding Brenda Gandara. While he was initially popular for being a crusader for justice and for breaking the Brazilian Labor Party's corrupt hold on power, he presided over a declining economy which he exacerbated with his anti-tax and pro-spending policies. Biography Diego Sobral was born in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1943, and he worked as an economist and an economics professor for several decades. He became involved in the social democratic PSDB during the 1970s and 1980s, rising in its ranks. In 2000, Sobral became a deputy and Deputy PSDB Leader under Rafael Tovar, and he was outraged when Tovar was murdered by hired gunmen in 2011. Sobral won the party leadership and campaigned against the Brazilian Labor Party's corrupt regime, running for President in 2012 and narrowly losing to PTB incumbent Eduardo Doreira with 48.5% of the vote to Doreira's 51.5%. However, in 2013, he made a comeback, leading his party to victory at the polls and driving the PTB into third place. He then defeated PT leader Mariana Santanha in the presidential election with 52.9% of the vote to her 47.1%, and he became the next President of Brazil, the first non-PTB president in nine years. Presidency Sobral inherited a changing Brazil, in which the socialist and social democratic left now composed the majority in the Chamber of Deputies, and which was suffering from a slight decrease in the budget. A PTB-proposed alcohol tax was defeated 19-17, with the PSDB and the right allying to defeat the tax. A port tax was defeated by the same margin, while the government successfully defended public libraries in a 20-17 vote. Legalized gambling was defeated by the PT and PSDB in a 22-14 vote, while the PTB and the right supported it. By the new year of 2014, the budget and the number of voters had fallen, while corruption also slightly decreased. The PTB successfully led the 34-0 vote to abolish arts subsidies, helping the economy to grow again. The driving license program was also abolished after a 20-13 vote, but vehicle emission limits passed after a narrow 19-18 vote. This was followed by an economic boom, and the government voted 23-14 to establish a bus transport service. The Chamber voted 19-11 to abolish the coffee tax, 17-15 to reject a land tax (rejected by the PT and the conservatives), 19-13 to abolish the stamp duty, and 25-9 to pass an alcohol tax (after PTB leader Raquel Agusto bribed Progressistas leader Helena Silves to back the law with her party). In late 2014, the PSDB became the largest party with 23.51% of the vote and 10 seats, followed by the PT with 23.05% and 9 seats, the PTB with 22.79% and 9 seats, the PP with 17.63% and 7 seats, and the PMDB with 13.02% and 5 seats. The ensuing election saw Sobral win 51.2% of the vote against PT leader Brenda Gandara's 48.8%, winning re-election. By the new year, the budget had stabilized, although it had dropped from the year before. The Chamber made the mistake of voting 27-7 to abolish highway tolls, resuming the economy's descent. The Chamber then voted 17-12 to impose presidential term limits, but the PTB won a victory when it convinced the Chamber to vote 18-16 in favor of a land tax, and the Chamber then voted 18-15 to ban guns. The Chamber adopted an anti-torture law, and the PTB successfully presided over the 16-15 vote to abolish agriculture research, allowing for the economy to rebound. Sobral's last two acts before the election were to approve referenda and to impose a stamp duty. On election day, the PT became the largest party with 27.14% of the vote and 11 seats, followed by the PP with 21.37% and 9 seats, the PSDB with 20.61% and 8 seats, the PTB with 18.85% and 7 seats, and the PMDB with 12.02% and 5 seats. The ensuing election saw Gandara defeat PP leader Helena Silves 52.5% to 47.5%, and Sobral stepped down. He died in 2021 at the age of 78, and incumbent President Carlos Denholm replaced him as party leader, while Eduardo Kupper took his vacant seat. Category:1943 births Category:Brazilian politicians Category:Brazilians Category:Politicians Category:Catholics Category:PSDB members Category:Brazilian social democrats Category:Social democrats Category:2021 deaths